Former NJ teacher sentenced to 10 years for grooming and abusing two male students over years, including a 2017 pregnancy after sex with one.

Julie Rizzitello, a former New Jersey high school English teacher, was sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of second-degree sexual assault for grooming and abusing two male students over multiple years. Court testimony on February 11, 2026, revealed she became pregnant in 2017 after having unprotected sex with one student on his birthday, later telling him she terminated the pregnancy. The abuse spanned from 2017 through 2018 and included another incident in early 2024 with a different student. Prosecutors described her actions as textbook grooming, and a judge called the behavior predatory. Rizzitello, who had two children with her husband, was arrested in July 2024.